After losing both parents in war-torn Afghanistan, Rashid survived a nightmare journey to the UK, where the teenager is now building a new life, thanks to the Prince’s Trust, recently winning the organisation’s Rising Star award.

Even by the brutal standards of war-torn Afghanistan, Rashid Abdul was cruelly chewed up by the unforgiving landscape and spat on the parched earth.

At an age when children should still believe in Santa and the Tooth Fairy, Rashid – an orphan at the age of five – survived by selling scrap metal begged from factories.

At 12, the pangs of hunger became too great. He joined a rag-tag caravan of humanity on a life-or-death trek from the north-east province of Kunar to Calais, where creaking boats waited.

Rashid survived the violence of his boyhood. He survived the nightmare sea journey to the UK – a voyage so harrowing, those with lifebelts simply leaped into the icy waters.

And now, based in Birmingham, Rashid is embarking on the life and career goal he illustrated in childish sketches while alone in Afghanistan.

The 19-year-old told The Mercury: “I have been knocked down by life, but I have climbed up again and again and again. I urge others to do the same.”

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That indomitable spirit has been recognised by The Prince’s Trust, who helped the refugee - who was first living in Coventry when he arrived in the UK - gain confidence and life skills through its 12-week “Team” programme.

At a glittering ceremony at Birmingham Rep , Rashid, now a care worker, received the Trust’s Rising Star award, which recognises young people who, despite having faced serious personal obstacles, are in sustainable employment – thanks to the Trust.

Following the honour, his ambition to become a physicist burns more brightly.

It is a fitting tribute to a young man who, in his own words, has “seen things I wish I could forget”.

For Rashid, childhood and innocence were effectively snuffed out at the age of five. An only child, his mother Ayesha, dogged by ill-health, died following an epileptic seizure.

Two years earlier, father Fuzel, who scraped a living by growing crops from the dry, ochre soil, was shot while attempting to engineer a truce between warring tribes.

“I think my mother died of distress because things were very bad,” said Rashid matter-of-factly.

“My father was well respected in the community. He agreed to go to a meeting and he was shot. To this day, I don’t know who was responsible.

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But Rashid’s existence was feral. He begged, borrowed and sold scrap to stave off starvation. “I visited factories and collected metal and plastics and sold them to scrapyards and shops,” he said.

“My hard life made me different. There was no education, no health and safety, no medical help. It was hard.

“All the time I wanted to become a person who could leave a legacy for helping the environment.

“I taught myself. There was no school. But I had a vision of what I wanted to do – to change people’s lives.”

Even in the darkest days and surrounded by squalor, Rashid crammed notebooks with the grand ideas that fizzed and crackled in his head.

“I started sketching and drawing simple things to help human life.”

The dreams of a better life tugged and tempted young Rashid.

At the age of 12, he hatched an escape plan fuelled by the sale of his father’s farm.

The boy paid over £8,000 to unscrupulous people-smugglers for a place on a dilapidated, leaky boat waiting near Calais.

He joined a human convoy of hope and lost souls on a trek from his homeland to a land of plenty. It was a miserable marathon that proved too much for many: the majority simply surrendered and turned back.

Rashid, the youngest in the party, was bullied and threatened, but marched on.

“The journey was the most difficult,” he said. “Days and nights, months, even weeks. The only thing that kept me going was the dream of being a physicist.

“We went several days without food and water. It was freezing cold and we sheltered in the forests.

“Eighty per cent turned back. We begged, we would knock on doors and use sign language to ask for food. People were kind.”

Calais provided fresh perils, not paradise. The boat was clearly not fit for purpose. Of the 20 people packed on the patched-up vessel, only three were handed life-jackets.

Those three risked the choppy sea as it took in water.

“We were sitting on the edges,” said Rashid. “On a scale of one to ten, I’d say the danger was eight, maybe nine.

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“The journey was slow, the boat was creaking. I didn’t think we would get there alive. I thought I was going to die, but I didn’t give up. I will never give up to nature.”

Somehow, Rashid made it safely to dry land. On very foreign soil and unable to speak the language, Rashid made his first faltering steps on the road to a new life.

“It was very different,” Rashid admitted. “I could not sleep for several days. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me, but slowly I started to build relationships.”

Friends made during the long walk from Afghanistan initially provided the teenager with accommodation in Coventry. From there, he was held at a Solihull centre while his plea to stay in the UK was processed.

Foster carers provided a home and Rashid, gradually overcoming the language barrier and showed a sponge-like ability to soak-up knowledge at Lyndon School , Solihull.

He excelled at physics, gaining a GCSE A* in the subject. He also shone in physics and engineering at Solihull College and gained a “B” in business studies.

“I read. I asked questions all the time,” said Rashid. “I had so much passion for learning.”

He worked for a time on the production line at Jaguar Land Rover and was urged by a social worker to approach the Prince’s Trust for an additional qualification.

He said: “Gareth and Vicky, my leaders on Team, took me in when I was too scared to speak to anyone and built up my confidence by playing games that showed me I could interact with other people.

“They helped me to believe in myself. I got my first care job as a result and now I’m employed as a senior care worker with a Level 2 in Health And Social Care.

“I wanted to give something back to society, the people I care for – I have learned to communicate in their way, not my way. I am climbing life’s ladder, step by step.”

Rashid has asked The Prince’s Trust for support in returning to college to take business studies.

Once he has completed the course, he plans to set up a company that specialises in taking renewable energy to developing countries.

He added: “I only look back to see how far I’ve come.

“I want my story to inspire people. I have overcome hardship, difficulty and days without food.